Assessing Relationships among Habitat, Fish, and Recreational Anglers in Urban Lakes

Aquatic habitat helps to support productive fish communities by providing a source of food, substrate for reproduction, and shelter from predators. In urban lakes, habitat may be limited due to many factors including disturbance, contaminant and nutrient pollution, invasive species, or because some fisheries are artificially created (e.g., ponds, impoundments) and simply lack natural lake features. Thus, urban fisheries may have insufficient habitat to support a productive, diverse, and sustainable fishery. Urban fisheries are often understudied when compared to larger recreational fisheries. However, urban fisheries provide convenient and accessible locations for many recreational anglers. My thesis examined the relationships of habitat, fish, and recreational anglers in small urban fisheries of the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) and Lubbock (LBK), Texas, USA. My first hypothesis is that increases in habitat will increase fish abundance in urban lakes and my second hypothesis is that higher fish abundance will increase angler catch rates and satisfaction. To study this, I surveyed lake habitat, fish abundance, and recreational anglers at 16 small urban fisheries (DFW, n = 8 lakes; LBK, n = 8 lakes) to understand how lake habitat influences patterns of fish abundance, and how fishes influence the perceptions of recreational anglers. I used point count surveys to quantify shoreline macrophyte cover and side scan sonar mapping to map submerged habitat in lakes. To measure fish abundance, I used a combination of pulsed-DC boat electrofishing and shoreline seining to determine catch per unit effort of fish species encountered. Finally, I interviewed recreational anglers to determine angler satisfaction, catch rates, and individual perceptions of lake quality. Findings from my study identified multiple direct and indirect relationships between lake habitat, fish, and recreational anglers in these small urban lakes. Habitat surveys revealed that shoreline vegetation and submerged structure (i.e., boulders, trees) were generally low or lacking in many lakes. Although vegetation cover was low, I found that lakes with more shoreline vegetation also had more abundant Bluegill and Largemouth Bass (indirectly), providing support for my first hypothesis. However, the abundance of Bluegill or bass in a lake had no detectable effect on angler catch rates and satisfaction, providing no support for my second hypothesis. This suggests that more fish in a lake does not directly lead to anglers catching more fish and that anglers require some level of skill. I detected a strong positive relationship between angler catch rates and angler satisfaction. To improve or maintain angler satisfaction, it is important to consider how lake specific or angler specific factors may influence an individual’s ability to capture fish. In summary, to increase angler satisfaction, managers should ideally focus on increasing lake habitat availability and also work to educate anglers (e.g., fishing techniques) to help improve angler catch rates. Even if angler satisfaction is not a goal, habitat enhancements should be a high priority because many of these lake systems have poor habitat and any improvement would likely benefit fish communities, improve water quality, and reduce the need of supplemental fish stocking.